Ida Red

Swab wants to get to Heat but he can't get anything up to a proper temperature.

Nothing kills excitement like endless repetition - and Ida Red turns out to be just the latest faint echo of stories we've heard too many times already.

The second half has too many unexplained plot leaps but the earlier emphasis on family dynamics saves this action-crime thriller.

“Ida Red” doesn’t always seem sure of itself or of the best way to get to its fairly predictable end. But John Swab does a good job building a family dynamic that’s both interesting and believable.

The cast really sells this movie and makes it a strong ensemble piece.

Ida Red, unfortunately, seems to fall into the trap of emulating better crime dramas instead of trying to stand out on the merits of its own story.

Genre pictures, thin on surprises and big on grit, sink or swim on their forward momentum. This Tulsa-filmed B-movie gangland thriller never has that.

Some intriguing ideas about loyalty and redemption are offset by the formulaic trappings of this crime thriller that squanders a strong cast.

The storytelling in this crime drama is far from clean, and the screenplay drags out quite a few stale old chestnuts, but it has a good pulpy quality.

[T]he movie overlooks the one element that might have elevated it above formula: these characters.